Science / Technology - Colloquium
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Olin Hall
214
Atom interferometers and gyroscopes are highly sensitive atom-optical devices which are capable of sensing and measuring various physical quantities. Theoretically, the signal-to-noise ratio of atomic gyroscopes is about a hundred billion times more than that of their optical counterparts for the same particle flux and the same enclosed area. Since atoms have mass, electric charge, and magnetic moment, atom interferometers and gyroscopes can be put into diverse applications like inertial, gravitational, electric, and magnetic field measurements, and rotation sensing. Because of a narrow momentum distribution in a Bose-Einstein condensate, the atoms in a condensate can easily be controlled and coherently manipulated on small chips by laser pulses. On-chip atom-optical devices will therefore play a significant role in fundamental research, precision measurements, and navigation systems. These atom-optical devices have some drawbacks as well. They are easily affected by fluctuations, vibrations and noise sources, which in turn adversely affect the measurements of the quantities of interest. The main objective of this dissertation is to analyze Bose-Einstein condensate-based atom Michelson interferometers, investigate the factors which degrade the contrast of the interference fringes, and obtain the working regions in the parameter space.
Cost: Free
Sponsored by: WPI Physics Department
Suggested Audiences: College
E-mail:
physics@wpi.edu
Phone: 508-831-5258
Last Modified: April 12, 2012 at 10:25 AM
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